The honest game review critic

Undertale Review, A True RPG – No Spoilers!

Undertale is an RPG created by Indie developer, Toyfox and one of the most enjoyable RPGs that I’ve played! The game starts off with a short introduction to explain the story of the war between Humans and Monsters and how the monsters were driven down to the Underground. You play a Human child who fell to the Underground and it’s there, where your adventure through the Underground starts.

The beginning of the game had me confronted by Flowey, a talking flower who was seemingly comforting towards me….but in the split of a second, it was all a charade and I was standing toe-to-toe with an unexpected sinister flower. It was at this point, my view of the game completely changed. I could trust..no one. And this was the best part about the game, I didn’t foresee most of the surprises that I encountered. It’s a game where things aren’t as they seem.

The game thrives off the player exploring and taking the time to read the dialogue on the sign boards that are presented in the game. Reading these, which I implore you to do, make the experience of playing the game much better because you slowly understand what really happened with the Humans and Monsters during the war. A lot of the time I was simply lost in the story and completely focused on that rather than my character’s level or his stats. Exploration is a feature that is encouraged because finding all the little things are what make Undertale such an immersive game.

Challenging and engaging combat mechanics

The combat is one of the most fantastic and enjoyable parts of the game. Although fighting standard weak monsters can get tedious, the boss fights are what really make this game stand out, with it’s unique puzzles that progressively become more difficult as the fight goes on, it’s where the challenge really lies! For some people these puzzles may not seem all that difficult if you’re a puzzle whiz, but I believe you’d enjoy them even if you would find them trivial. And it’s not just the puzzles that make the fights fun, it’s the wording of the options that you can choose. Having the option of petting a Human sized dog in a suit of armor with a halberd, is just too damn hilarious not to choose at least once! I mean, there’s even an option to spare anyone and anything you fight, including bosses (providing you “unlock” the spare option during the fight).

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I’ve seen that the game receives some hate because of the visuals, which I’m not even taking into account because this game proves that AAA, blockbuster visuals aren’t needed to make a game great. It’s a game that you have to play in order to truly understand how spectacularly moving the game is. The writing and audio bring about deep and meaningful characters who are developed and some you care for as you play through the game. If this doesn’t interest you, I don’t know what will.

Check out the video below for some combat gameplay (sorry about my voice, there may have been an issue!). Alternatively you watch it at our YouTube channel along with other gameplay videos!

A True RPG

Undertale is an RPG in every sense of the word. You can choose whatever path to go down, whether it be pacifism, a fighter, a lover, a coward or maybe you can mix them up! What makes this more fun is that the fact that your decisions impact your game later on.

Undertale is an RPG in every sense of the word. You can choose whatever path to go down, whether it be pacifism, a fighter, a lover, a coward or maybe you can mix them up! What makes this more fun is that the fact that your decisions impact your game later on. An average first playthrough would take roughly 6-8 hours but if you’re someone who likes to fully complete a game, then it still won’t take all that long at roughly 17-20 hours. I’d recommend that you at least do two playthroughs because there are three main endings, therefore three main playthrough types. These aren’t just little things that changes a bit of dialogue here and there, since you’re required to do meet certain conditions in order to get the ending you want. If you’re just starting the game and know nothing about the different endings, then you’re obviously not going to know, but for those do, a genocide playthrough requires you to kill every single monster in each room including bosses. Leaving any monster alive would result in the Neutral ending. A Pacifist ending would have you not kill any monster including bosses and since you can’t get any experience points unless you kill, you’ll be stuck at level 1. The Pacifist route also requires that you befriend certain NPCs, which I won’t divulge the names of because I despise spoilers! There’s also a Neutral route, but I’ll let you figure that one out!

It’s not just comical

Undertale had me laughing and spooked throughout! This was due to the extremely clever writing and the timing of the unbelievable number of puns. I never tired of Sans’ endless barrage of jokes, no matter how bad they were. But that’s the brilliance of it, it’s funny and it works! The character of Sans is one that I easily attached myself to and can remember. The combination of the light-hearted music with the jokes or even when he drops a joke during an intense piece of music is what makes this such a delightful game to play!

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Although Undertale is constantly hilarious, there are moments where it tugs on your heart and questions your morality. Even if you go for the Genocide route, you may find yourself at a crossroads when knowing about how innocent some monsters are what their story is. My personal favourite is Papyrus, one of the main characters who isn’t the kind of character that has many friends despite his constant attempts to make some. I won’t quote anything here and I refuse to give any spoilers, but I can say that some of the conversations that you have with him can “trigger the feels”. This is something that can happen throughout the game as you converse with the many diverse characters of Undertale.

In every game, soundtracks play a massive part in setting the tone for a level or a fight and Undertale is a game that does it extremely well. You may find yourself listening to an upbeat tone but as you enter the next room, the music suddenly slows down and things start to seem a bit more serious. One of my favourite themes is the Undyne boss battle where the music shows adds to the severity of the fight with Undyne. The music aids the game in telling the story and depicting the mood of whatever situation you’re in.

So is it worth playing?

You betcha it’s worth playing! I’m confident in saying that it’s one of the most enjoyable RPG games that I’ve played and even though I’m not the biggest fan of 2D puzzles in games, I thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of them, despite there being one or two tedious moments against standard weak monsters. Usually in a game I don’t go for multiple playthroughs unless they provide very different adventures and outcomes and Undertale is one that I don’t regret doing. It’s definitely something I’d recommend to anyone who loves their RPGs and isn’t bothered about spectacular graphics! The story, characters, music and sounds are just too brilliant to pass up on!

Why haven’t you bought it yet?! 😀 Let me know what you think of Undertale!

Even though I mainly write about movies, I also have a passion for video games. I think your blog looks very professional and based on your Undertale review, your writing skills are sublime! I haven’t written much about games, but when I do I find it hard to exactly find out how to structure my articles correctly, but you seem to do it just perfectly. I think you bring up excellent points which you then back up with good explained thoughts. I can’t really ask for much more, I am subscribing and looking forward to future content. Good look with your writing in the future!

But, you have been nominated and therefore you have to do these things listed below here:
1. Thanking the person that nominated you
2. Stating 7 random facts about yourself
3. Nominate 7-15 other blogs (preferably newer blogs)
4. Don’t forget to add The Lovely Blog Award logo to your post (google it if you can’t find it).

Hey dude! I can’t exactly explain how much that means to me and I really appreciate it. I’m glad that you’re enjoying what I’m writing but this is only the beginning! I’m also starting to like your writing as well (since I’m a big movie nut).

I’ll be sure to write up the list of things I’ll need to do but I’d rather take the time to consider which blogs I’d nominate! Again, thank you!